10 Vegan Breakfast Ideas (Compilation #69)

There are, remarkably, still new things out there to eat for breakfast. Who would have figured? I'm closing in on 700 different things! But somehow I've been drawn to much more classic breakfasts lately, and I'm surprised to find that I've not highlighted any of the ones in this post before. You'll find scrambles, sausages, traditional oatmeal, and basic pancakes here. If you're a not-so-adventurous person, this might be the compilation for you, though I do have some slightly more unusual options here and there.

1. Folded Tofu Scramble (Gluten Free, Nut Free)

Is there another way to scramble tofu? Turns out there is. This one is from School Night Vegan. It's meant to be more like soft scrambled eggs than most tofu scrambles are. Although I love a good tofu scramble in any iteration, I grant you they can be pretty firm sometimes. For this, you slice extra firm tofu up with a mandolin, then cook it in a sauce made from silken tofu and seasonings. If you preferred your eggs on the softer side, this is a fun way to try veganizing a scramble. I really liked these! I served my "eggs" with roasted sweet potatoes and some avocado, but I also highly recommend having this dish with toast. Although this has plenty of protein for me, this meal still needed rounding out in another way, so I had a glass of orange juice alongside it. Bon appetit!

2. Creamy Oats with Vegan Butter (Gluten Free, Nut Free)

Here's a very classic breakfast I might have eaten in childhood (though then I would have added sugar): Oats cooked in (soy) milk and served with (vegan) butter. Orange juice rounds out the meal, which felt somehow like it was the thing to do. There is nothing novel about this--people have eaten something similar for generations--but it's still very satisfying. I added some flaky salt when I ate it, similar to what I do with farina. It was perfect.

3. Blended Blue Butterfly Pea Flower Chia Pudding (Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free Option)

Revisiting the pantry utilization quest, here we have a use for a superfood powder in my cupboard. The pudding recipe is from Teri Ann Carty, but I made it in my blender as per my usual method for making chia puddings (it's a texture thing for me--I don't do well with unblended chia pudding).It's shown here with fresh berries, which is delicious; I also recommend adding some non-dairy yogurt. If you need a soy free meal, just substitute something else for the soy milk.

4. TVP and Bread Crumb Sausages (Nut Free)

These sausages are the meatiest vegan sausages I've ever made. They're a lot like the sausages I find in the freezer section that predate the uncanny valley of Impossible and Beyond-style sausages. That is to say, they will not make you think you are eating meat, probably, but they are also firm and delicious and hold together really well, and do not have an iota of mushiness. The recipe is from Thee Burger Dude. For pantry utilization purposes, this used TVP, bread crumbs, and a wide assortment of seasonings, including mushroom seasoning, which I just don't often see in recipes so I've had a tiny bit of regret for buying. So! A win! I had my sausage with avocado toast with cucumber and some skillet potatoes. It was a delightful breakfast.

5. Multigrain Pancakes with Nutty Yogurt and Raspberries

These pancakes are from a recipe in one of my physical cookbooks, The Big Book of Vegetarian (2004). I like my old cookbooks because they usually don't call for specialty ingredients, but rather things that were available in supermarkets decades ago and therefore still are (mostly--things change). This book has a lot of vegan recipes in it, and one of them is for these pancakes, which combine all-purpose flour, oats, cornmeal, whole wheat flour, soy milk, molasses, and a few other things into easy, delicious pancakes. To top them off, I mixed some peanut butter with vanilla non-dairy yogurt and spread that over the pancakes. Make a stack of these whatever size you like (I'm good with two), then top off with some raspberries. This is delicious.

6. Banana Walnut Bran Muffins

What's more classic than a bran muffin? How about a bran muffin with bananas and walnuts? This recipe is from Nourished by Caroline and has no added sugars, so it's not very sweet. I did as suggested and had the muffins with some strawberry preserves, and they were absolutely delicious! I had a smoothie made with soy milk and cashew butter to round out the meal with some protein.

7. Cookie Butter Energy Bites (Soy Free)

I rarely buy it, but I love Biscoff spread. And it makes for some delicious energy bites! I used this recipe from Knead to Cook, substituting some apple-based vegan honey and Biscoff for honey and Speculoos spread. With oats, wheat bran, coconut, and chia seeds, they seemed like a good breakfast option, while the dark chocolate, cookie butter, and sweetener make them extra tasty. I had my energy bites with berries, mango, and a soy latte--one of my favorite breakfasts in quite some time.

8. Pumpkin Baked Steel Cut Oats (Gluten Free, Soy Free Option)

I love baked steel cut oats, so when I had a partial can of pumpkin to use, I had to make this recipe from Flavor the Moments before the weather turned warm and unfriendly to baking. I used soy milk instead of almond, but you could swap that back if you are avoiding soy. I also substituted chopped pecans for whole pecan halves, which may be less beautiful but was just as good, and also cost me less. I cut the recipe in half, which is why you see it here in a loaf pan. I got about three servings that way, to be had with non-dairy yogurt and some fruit. I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast!

9. Chocolate Maca Berry Smoothie Bowl (Gluten Free, Soy Free Option)

Suddenly, and much faster than I expected, it got too warm for me to turn on the oven, but smoothie bowls kind of make up for the weather being hotter than I want. This one was gorgeous and so delicious, too! I made the base from a recipe at Becks Lives Healthy, leaving out the collagen and protein powder and subbing soy milk for almond (but you can have this be soy free easily). I topped the base with strawberries, raspberries, pumpkin seeds, quinoa puffs, hemp seeds, and chia seeds. This was a truly satisfying way to begin a frustratingly warm spring morning!

10. Cocoa Wheat (Nut Free)

Cocoa wheat is like hot cocoa in porridge form, and delicious with some vegan butter. The recipe is from Girl with the Spatula, easily veganized with soy milk and using a vegan farina (the brand-name Cream of Wheat may have some non-vegan Vitamin D sources; check your own labels to be sure--I used Bob's Red Mill Creamy Wheat Cereal here, if it matters). It may look like brown sludge, but trust me, it's delicious.

Please recommend cold breakfasts to me! We're heading into the time of year I dread, and I need things to look forward to.